CANADA: Dozens of people have been killed in Canada amid an unprecedented heatwave that has smashed temperature records, BBC has reported.

Police in Vancouver have responded to more than 130 deaths since Friday.

Most were elderly or had underlying health conditions, with heat often a contributing factor, according to BBC.

Canada broke its temperature record for a third straight day on Tuesday – 49.6C (121.3F) in Lytton, British Columbia.

According to BBC, the US north-west has also seen record highs – and a number of fatalities.

Experts say climate change is expected to increase the frequency of extreme weather events, such as heatwaves, it added.

However, linking any single event to global warming is complicated.

The heat over western parts of Canada and the US has been caused by a dome of static high-pressure hot air stretching from California to the Arctic territories, according to the report.

Before Sunday, temperatures in Canada had never passed 45C.

(With inputs from BBC)